Long Beach offers opportunities to help others during the holiday season. Here’s the most up-to-date information.

A toy drive benefiting the C.A.R.E. program at ST. Mary’s Medical Center runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at a private home. The mission of C.A.R.E. is to provide programs and services to those dealing with HIV/AIDS. For more information, call (562) 810-4295.

This Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 10 and 11), visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific can support the Spark of Love Toy Drive. Bring at unwrapped toy worth $10 to $15 and receive a coupon good for $10 off adult admission and

It’s okay to be an animal lover and still think it’s the tiniest bit crazy to pretend Buckles understands the nuances of holiday giving. But when you give a give a gift to someone’s pet, you’re really saying, “I love you” to the person associated with said pet. Even if it’s you, yourself: According to the PwC Holiday Outlook, the average

TACOMA – Zoolights at Point Defiance Zoo Aquarium can be a very special field trip for Daisies, Brownies and other members of various Girl Scouts of Western Washington troops, as well as for their male counterparts in the Boy Scouts organization.

And there’s no better night than Dec. 6 for leaders to schedule this into their troops’ plans.

Scout Night at Zoolights provides a discount of $2 off per general admission for every registered Girl Scout or Boy Scout in uniform (or wearing his or her pins), plus up to 10 non-registered scouts per group.

To honor their service, United States military veterans will receive a special discount to Zoolights at Point Defiance Zoo Aquarium on a total of six Mondays and Wednesdays this holiday season.

The discount of $2 off Zoolights General Admission is available to all who are serving or have served honorably in the United States military, as well as to their dependents. It’s a great price break that guarantees admittance on each of those nights for just $8 per person.

CLINTON – The Friends of the Bigelow Library are selling gift cards to Texas Roadhouse as a fundraiser. Ten percent of sales from the gift cards (which can be ordered in any amount) will go directly to the Friends of the Bigelow Library, supporting library programs.

The Friends will be selling gift cards through Dec. 1. They will also be available at the book and bake sale on Nov. 26.

The gift cards will be delivered before Christmas, so do your shopping early (Teachers, mailmen, your in-laws, and other obligatory gifts). In conjunction with the gift card

Downtown attractions including the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center will offer $1 or free admission when Downtown Dollar or Less Days returns to Baltimore next month.

On Dec. 3 and 4, 15 museums and other attractions in downtown Baltimore will offer the admission discount. The promotion is part of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore’s “Downtown for the Holidays” campaign.

Some of the attractions, like Lexington Market and the Walters Art Museum, already offer free admission regularly, but for others, discounted admission is a steal. (For example, National Aquarium tickets typically cost $24.95-$39.95.)

For the aquarium and Port Discovery Children’s Museum, limited discounted

On Friday, Nov. 11, the zoo will offer free admission to veterans, active-duty, reserve and retired members of the Armed Forces, plus discounts of $4 off general admission for up to six accompanying guests.